Lacuer City

To start off, there is a lot of stuff that can be done here. We'll start by heading into the castle's throne room and making a right, taking more stairs. The first room on the right has a chest with a STAR RUBY. Now head to the receptionist's that you passed on your way, talk to the bottom one and then the top one and join the Armory Contest. You now have to choose between one of four shop sponsors. The importance of your choice lies in that you keep the gear you are sponsored with, knowing that it's best to choose Counterpunch to get gear that will actually benefit you. Knockout has the Farcutter but you may have better and if not we'll upgrade that soon.

|=============================================================================| | Weapons Shop - The Counterpunch | Weapons Shop - The Knockout | |-------------------------------------|---------------------------------------| | Weapon Sinclair | Weapon Farcutter | | Helmet Plate Helm | Helmet Leather Helmet | | Armor Brigandine | Armor Leather Armor | | Shield Buckler | Shield Wooden Shield | | Greaves Silver Greaves | Greaves Leather Greaves | |-------------------------------------|---------------------------------------| | Items: Sweet Syrup x2, Mixed Syrup | Items: Sweet Syrup x2, Mixed Syrup | | Blackberry | Blackberry | |=====================================|=======================================| | Weapons Shop - The Straight Jab | Weapons Shop - The Savage Slayer | |-------------------------------------|---------------------------------------| | Weapon Guthgwine | Weapon Walloon Sword | | Helmet Padded Helmet | Helmet Iron Helmet | | Armor Padded Armor | Armor Ring Mail | | Shield Knight's Shield | Shield Round Shield | | Greaves Plate Greaves | Greaves Iron Greaves | |-------------------------------------|---------------------------------------| | Items: Sweet Syrup x2, Mixed Syrup | Items: Fruit Syrup, Strength Bottle | | Blackberry | Refreshing Syrup, Violent Pill | |=============================================================================|

After choosing your sponsor you obtain the ARMORY CONTEST BADGE. Return to the town central for a scene. When this ends you are free to do anything you want right now (to include Pickpocketing everyone in town) but when you are ready head to the Inn.

*Price is equal to 100 + (250 x minutes played)

When you wake up in the morning note all the new people in town that can be Pickpocketed. Head through the castle to the Lacuer Arena and sign in. Go left into the waiting room and speak to the other combatants to start Claude's first match. It's just a Brownie and it doesn't hit very hard. Exit the waiting room and head into the door at right to enter the spectator's area. Head to the back section and speak with Celine. After the scene it's time for Claude's second bout. The Troll hits a little hard but doesn't have much HP so use Helmetbreak a few times and finish with normal attacks.

The semifinal match starts immediately following the previous one. The Ogre hits like a truck, is aggressive, and fast. The best way to win here is evade the Ogre and spam Helmetbreak until it's over. If you lose then you miss out on a valuable item and will have to fight a Shielder to get back in to the finals. The final match is against Dias and unfortunately all attacks do 0 damage so this one is impossible to win.

The contest is over but second place still has prizes! Return to your sponsor and receive all the gear you wore and 6500 FOL. If Claude defeated the Ogre in the semifinals then head to the west side of town and into Gamgee's Hut. He will give Claude the DEADLY EDGE, a weapon that can be customized to become arguably the best weapon in the game. At this point in the game you can either head to Linga or opt to recruit Opera if you have not recruited Ashton. You may also partake in a sidequest at this time. For more details on it check out section 05.01.

PRIVATE ACTION: Between CLAUDE and WELCH

Requirement: After the Lacuer Armory Contest but before you complete Bowman's quest. Must have 4 or more party members.

What to do: Head towards the castle to have Welch land on the protagonist. After some conversing you have the option to recruit Welch.

Mountain Palace

First off, you cannot do this if you did not do the Private Action in Krosse where Claude runs into the Three-Eyed Man. If you did then head to the bar in Hilton to start a scene involving a Three-Eyed woman, her name is Opera. Head to Krosse and request an audience with the king to get permission to enter the Mountain Palace - he also throws in 10,000 FOL for the trip. To get to this place head towards Kurik but don't cross the bridge, instead follow the path left.

Open the chests for a LUNAR CHARM and CRYSTAL. Talk to the guard to make him move. Talk to him again to rest for free, which is highly suggested.

At the first junction make a left and follow it around until you reach a four way intersection. Go northwest till you reach an area where you can go through a tunnel. Follow this tunnel to it's end to find ?HERB/ARTEMIS LEAF in the chest. Make your way back out of the tunnel and follow the path to find another tunnel at the top of the screen. Follow this till it dead ends with two chests containing a RESURRECTION ELIXIR and ?JEWELRY/GLITTERING EARRING. Go into the next room and use the save point. Open the two chests in the next room for CESTUS and ?MINERAL/ORICHALCUM. Now you need to return to the entrance.

From the main entrance go straight at the junction and when you reach another fork continue straight. Claude runs into Opera here and after some conversing Claude agrees to help out. Go down the stairs and go up at the junction. Heal up and use the save point, then proceed into the next room.

The attack that's really going to get you in this one is the Fire Lizard's fiery breath. It can hit multiple times and is just bad news all around. You can wear some Ruby's if you feel necessary to reduce the damage. The best strategy here is to just follow Opera's lead and stick to one boss at a time. Should go down fairly quickly especially if you have Claude equipped with an overpowered weapon at this point in the game.

After the battle leave via the door at right and enter the first room you come across. Inside are three chests containing a CRESTED ROD, AMBER ROBE, and ?MINERAL/DAMASCUS. Leave this room and head right following the path until you reach a laboratory; Opera joins the party. The chests here contain DAMASCUS, FAERIE COLOGNE, and WOLFSBANE. Return to hallway before the boss room and go right then head down the stairs when you see a double door. The room at the end here has two chests with a FAERIE STATUETTE and EMERALD RING.

Leave the Mountain Palace and make your way to the Sacred Forest. Upon finding Opera's ship you have successfully completed all optional events in order to permanently recruit Opera and Ernest. The events that occur later in the game will be automatic and will be discussed then, for now you have Opera.